Dennis and Carita Chen have trying to have their own baby for nine years but it wasn’t in the cards yet.
They had fertility issues so they knew they won’t be able to have a child of their own.
They finally decided that they would go for adoption.
They initially planned for foreign adoption. But then a friend connected them to an adoption attorney who was looking for an Asian couple to adopt a baby about to be born. They were so excited and said yes to the attorney.
Unfortunately, the birth mother later changed her mind because she wanted a member of her family to adopt her baby.
This broke Dennis and Carita’s hearts. They had been looking forward to becoming parents at last but it seemed it wasn’t meant for them to be parents of this baby.
Being devout Christians, they continued to pray for God’s guidance to help them with their adoption journey.
And He definitely answered their nine-year prayer journey to finally have kids.
The adoption wasn’t going to happen and the hospital social worker called the Chen’s and asked if they’d still like to take custody of the baby.
The adoption fell through and no one was taking the baby home.
The Chens agreed and they flew from Austin, Texas to Fresno, California for the baby. From Fresno, they traveled 30 minutes north of Fresno to a town called Madera and straight to Madera Community Hospital.
“No trip I’ve ever taken, regardless of distance, has felt longer than this one,” Dennis documented on their blog.
It was already 9:30 pm when they arrived at the hospital and they had to enter through the Emergency Room.
They were nervous. From the time they got the call to getting on the plane to driving to Madera, they were nervous and didn’t know what to expect.
But thankfully, they were also at peace.
“The peace and joy that we’re feeling is absolute evidence of hundreds of people… that are praying for us tonight,” Carita shared with The Austin Stone.
And everyone they met along the way as soon as they entered the hospital was also evidence of that prayer.
They were all excited to see the Chen’s finally arrive.
And when the nurse who escorted them asked if they’re excited to meet their son, Dennis and Carita said yes.
“Yes, our son! We are excited beyond words. There is a child – a boy – somewhere in this hospital who needs a family and parents to love and protect him. We are determined to be his parents,” Dennis wrote on their blog.
And when Dennis and Carita finally met their son and they were flooded with emotions.
“I [found] myself weeping uncontrollably at the intensity of seeing my son for the first time. At some point in those tears, I notice Carita clinging to my arm, hand over her mouth, crying along with me,” Dennis recalled.
And when the nurse lifted their son to give to them, she asked Dennis and Carita what they were going to name him.
They both replied, at the same time, “Jacob.”
“At that moment, instantaneously, he belonged to us, he had a name and he was known,” Carita said.
The nurses at the hospital were sensitive to the Chen family’s needs and they provided two rocking chairs and a private room so they could spend a few moments alone as a new family.
“All those prayers and all those waiting was for him, for Jacob, for our son,” Dennis shared his realizations.
Want to meet Jacob Chen? Watch the video below!
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